"If" Questions

I was in a meeting and bored to tears. However, in almost every meeting, someone says something interesting, In this case, the speaker said “If we truly believe in collaboration, then why are all our rooms still arranged in rows?”

What a great question!

It got me thinking about “If” questions, or questions that should be asked that are truly important. Do, here are some “If” questions. I am sure there are a ton more, but here are a few to get the conversation going.

1. If we truly believe in collaboration, then why are our rooms still arranged in rows?
2. If we always see that technology excites kids when they use it, then why aren;t we using it all of the time?
3. If we say that technology is an educational tool, then why do we save technology only for Tuesday’s when we take kids to the lab down the hall?
4. If we say that 21st century skills are the wave of the future and what every kids should be learning, then why isn’t every professional development session in the world geared toward these skills?
5. If we truly believe that technology is the way kids should be learning, then why isn’t 30% of all technology budgets dedicated to professional development?
6 If we see trends such as video and audio becoming more and more important in the world of communication, why aren’t we training our students in video and audio?
7. If we say that technology should be integrated in all aspects of students learning, then why aren’t we teaching technology connections in art, and PE, in the performing arts?
8. If the organizations that advocate educational technology are truly pro-teacher, why not make the conferences free to attend?
9. If we truly believe in project and problem based learning, then why are we still lecturing?
10. If we want everyone to be using Web 2.0 skills and sites, then why are we leaving so many teachers behind that can’t even use Web 1.0?
11. If we want kids to learn technology, then why are we ignoring such technologies as imbedded systems?

So there are a few “if” questions.

Got any to add to list?

Tags: If, Questions, technology

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on September 19, 2007 at 5:34pm

I think we (those of us in this forum) can say "first half of each question" but many of my classroom teachers have never uttered the words "If we say that technology...." Yikes! I think some of them are still at the Web 0.2 stage.

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Permalink Reply by Laura Gibbs on September 19, 2007 at 6:36pm

If we value our students' critical thinking skills, why don't we let them HELP US think critically about educational technology?

:-)

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on September 19, 2007 at 6:54pm

That would be nice but at the elementary level kids are powerless to promote change in the classroom, at least that's what I'm seeing in my schools.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Prout on September 19, 2007 at 7:59pm

Here's one to add...
If we understand that all children learn differently, then why do we use one standardized test to measure achievement?

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Permalink Reply by Sylvia Martinez on September 19, 2007 at 8:42pm

Here's another on that theme - If we understand that all children learn differently, then why do we group them by age?

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Permalink Reply by Tim Holt on September 20, 2007 at 6:58am

I always wondered that...then we group them in artificial in-class groups based on ability..Red Reading groups, Blue reading group..etc..

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Permalink Reply by Tim Holt on September 20, 2007 at 6:58am

YES!

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Permalink Reply by Tim Holt on September 20, 2007 at 8:19am

I suspect that this question, like MOST of these, has to do with $$...
which brings up this IF question:

If we really value ed tech, why don;t we fund it so that all kids have access to everything that educators deem important?

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Permalink Reply by Amy Lenord on September 19, 2007 at 10:09pm

If we want teachers to truly integrate technology into their curriculum, classrooms and way of doing business, why don't they have more input in what technologies are appropriate for what they teach rather than what they are trained in being dictated by someone else?

Why aren't teachers who use technology already given more input in training their peers? Don't they know best what works?

Why do we normally only hear about or see technology purchased for core subjects, but expect all of our teachers to integrate it?

How can we train teachers to use technology to enhance their classes without expecting them to spend more time on learning how to use or teaching the technology to their students than on their content area?

Why isn't more campus or district intiated tech training differentiated so that we can meet the needs of the adult learners rather than only targeting the lower to middle areas of their proficiency spectrum?

And a really, really hard question...

With all the web 2.0 resources out there, why are we still so dependent on poorly created power point presentations? I just saw a TERRIBLE one today.

Why aren't more teachers taught design principles so that they are current in 21st century skills as well?

I know it sounds like I am venting, but I am glad you brought up this topic.